James and the Giant Peach

DESCRIPTION OF PROCESS
There were many different processes that went into each segment of this piece. The main segments were #1. Making the shark, #2. Making the peach, and #3. Making the characters. There were also many added components to these pieces to bring everything together, which I will also explain.
THE SHARK-
This had to come first, because I wasn't sure how big it would end up being, given the amount of tin I had to work with, and I wanted the shark and the peach to be proportionate to each other. The shark is made of:
1. The entire lid, and almost half of the tin container.
2. The two marbles.
3. The Elmer's glue.
4. Black and red acrylic paint for the accents.
By drawing out patterns and using them to figure out the mid section of the shark, I cut the shapes and curved them around to form the different parts. I clamped the metal down on itself to keep the shape, and only a little bit of glue was needed. The eyes are the marbles, painted red, and held in place by two pieces of tin for the eye sockets. The tail of the shark is joined together by very thin strips of the tin that was cut to be like a "wire" to tie them together without using the actual wire from the kit. This allows the tail of the shark to move back and forth freely.
THE PEACH-
This part had to come second, because I now had the shark to know how big it would need to be, and how small the characters would need to be. The peach is made of:
1. The balloon.
2. Elmer's glue mixed with water.
3. The plaster cloth mixed with water.
4. The piece of paper.
5. Acrylic paint.
6. Half of the large wooden circle.
7. Hot glue stick.
8. Piece of the wire.
9. Small piece of the cork.
10. Masking tape.
After blowing the balloon up to a good size, I first made the "top" of the peach by laying the wet plaster cloth on the balloon. When I ran out of plaster cloth, I continued to cover as much of the ballon as I could by cutting the piece of paper into strips, dipping them into the elmer's glue + water, and laying them onto the balloon. After everything had dried, I painted the "peach" with acrylics. The next step was adding the wooden "ladder" that wraps around the peach. To do this, I cut the large wooden circle into long strips, cut them into smaller pieces, and then painted them all brown. I attached some of them to the peach with Elmer's glue, and some with the hot glue. To make the stem of the peach, I used a piece of the wire and stuck it through a piece of the cork, and then tied a knot with it. I stuck the other side up through the inside of the peach until it came out, bulked it up with a bit of masking tape, and then painted it brown.
THE CHARACTERS-
Each character is structurally a bit different from one another, but mostly were based on the same process to make.
JAMES is made of:
1. Wire.
2. Hot Glue.
3. Masking tape.
4. Air dry clay.
5. Acrylic paint.
6. Small wooden stick
James is built on a tiny armature, made from the wire, and bulked up with the masking tape. Everything on the outside, besides his head and feet, are made with masking tape and painted with acrylics. His head and feet are sculpted air dry clay and attached with a bit of hot glue, also painted with acrylics. I also used half of one of the wooden sticks and sharped the end of it, and attached it to the back of James' leg with a piece of masking tape, in order to stand him up on the surface of the peach.
MS. SPIDER is made of:
1. Styrofoam ball.
2. Wire.
3. Masking tape.
4. Air dry clay.
5. White felt.
6. Acrylic paint.
7. Hot glue.
8. Small wooden stick
Ms. Spider's body is the styrofoam ball, with her eight wire legs stuck into it with a bit of hot glue. The bottoms of her legs are bulked up with masking tape to look like boots, and are all painted with black acrylic paint. Her head is sculpted from air dry clay, and stuck into the body with another piece of wire. She is wearing a scarf and hat made out of the white felt, and painted with acrylics. Like James, she also has a sharpened piece of wooden stick attached to her, to then attach to the surface of the peach.
MR. GRASSHOPPER is made of:
1. Wire.
2. Masking tape.
3. Canvas.
4. Air dry clay.
5. Hot glue.
6. Acrylic paint.
7. Elmer's glue.
8. Cork.
9. Small wooden stick.
Mr. Grasshopper is built on a wire armature, with only one arm having the wire, making him able to raise and lower the monocle to his eye. His pants are made of canvas, held together with a bit of elmer's glue. His arms, upper body and tail are bulked out with masking tape, which also form his "jacket." The head is sculpted air dry clay, attached to the neck with a bit of hot glue, and painted with acrylics. His antennae and monocle are strands of string taken from the canvas, and run through the hot glue to make them sturdy. His feet are small pieces of the cork, with looped pieces of wire attached to the backs, allowing Mr. Grasshopper to stand. He also has a sharped piece of the stick attached to his leg to stand him up on the peach.
MRS. LADYBUG is made of:
1. Small wooden ball.
2. Masking tape.
3. Cork.
4. Wire.
5. Canvas.
6. Air dry clay.
7. Acrylic paint.
8. White felt
9. String from the canvas.
10. Elmer's glue.
11. Small wooden stick.
The base of Mrs. Ladybug is the wooden ball, which is built upon with masking tape to create her skirt, and her arms. The second part of her "skirt" is half of the cork, attached to the ball underneath with a bit of elmer's glue. Her wings are made of canvas, attached with a piece of wire, and are actually able to open and close. Her head and top of her hat are air dry clay, attached with a bit of elmer's glue. The brim of her hat is canvas, and her removable purse is a small piece of white felt and canvas string. Everything is painted with acrylics, and she has a wooden stick stuck in the cork, allowing her to stand on the peach.
MR. EARTHWORM is made of:
1. The sticker from the top of the tin.
2. Wire.
3. Masking tape.
4. A bit of the instruction booklet.
5. White felt.
6. Elmer's glue.
7. Acrylic paint.
8. Small wooden stick.
Mr. Earthworm is a piece of wire on the inside, wrapped up with pieces of the sticker from the top of the tin. He is built up further by the masking tape. His collar is made from the white felt, and his bowtie and sunglasses are cut out from the instruction booklet and attached with a bit of elmer's glue. His body, glasses and bowtie are painted with acrylics. He has a piece of sharpened wooden stick attached to him by a piece of masking tape, for sticking into the peach.
MR. CENTIPEDE is made of:
1. Wire.
2. Masking tape.
3. Cork.
4. Air dry clay.
5. White felt.
6. Acrylic paint.
7. Small wooden stick.
8. Hot glue.
Mr. Centipede's body has a wire running through it, which is bulked up with masking tape. His twelve arms were also formed with the masking tape. His lower body are pieces of cork, with feet made of air dry clay attached with a bit of hot glue. His head is also sculpted air dry clay, attached to the body with a bit of hot glue. His hat is made of pieces of painted felt. His head, body and pants are also painted with acrylics. Like the others, he has a piece of sharpened wooden stick attached to him with some masking tape, allowing him to stand on the peach.
OTHER ITEMS USED-
FLOCK OF SEAGULLS:
1. Pages from the instruction booklet.
2. Wooden rod attached across the back of the flock.
3.Elmer's glue.
4. Acrylic paint.
5. Braided rope.
6. Strings from the canvas.
OCEAN:
1. All plastic baggies that the materials came in, cut and spread out.
2. Large bag of air dry clay, for texture
3. Left over air dry clay from small bag, to make a support for the shark.
4. Acrylic paint.
SKY:
1. Leftover canvas.
2. Leftover white felt.
3. Acrylic paint.
SHARK HOOK:
1. Plastic dowel rod.
2. Red acrylic paint.
I hope everyone will enjoy this James and the Giant Peach sculpture, as well as the stop motion video :) Thank you!